Crimson Knights Chapter Structure

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

The Crimson Knights are a Successor Chapter of the Blood Angels known for their overall preference to cooperate with other Imperium factions and for their proximity and cooperation with a local Forge World.

 

The Crimson Knights have eleven Companies. Being a Blood Angels Successor, they have a Death Company, albeit small, due to the high Primaris content of the Chapter (in current rules, as far as I know, there are no Death Company Primaris, though I believe the Red Thirst rule applies to some of them). In addition, the Crimson Knights' 7th Company consists entirely of Vanguard Marines (the 7th Company is referred to as the Crimson Stalkers, or just Stalkers for shorthand) and has something of a friendly rivalry with the Veterans of the 1st Company.

 

Fully half of the Captains of the Crimson Knights are also Librarians, owing to their high rate of psyker mutation, including the Captain of the Stalkers. The captains of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th Companies are all Librarians, excused from their duties in the Chapter's Librarius in order to command their Companies.

 

Crimson Knights wear a rather standard armor color. Their armor is solid red with golden kneepads, pauldron trim, Imperial Eagle and pack exhaust; Captains follow this convention as well for base colors. Their Sergeants follow Blood Angels heraldry in that they wear black pauldrons with red trim. Their Apothecaries wear white in place of gold in their pauldron coloring, their Librarians wear blue and their Chaplains wear black. Their Lieutenants wear gold pauldrons with red borders.

 

The Crimson Stalkers wear mostly-black armor with pauldrons whose colors match their brethren from other Companies. The Stalkers consist entirely of Vanguard troops. In addition, the Crimson Stalkers are used as a second layer of training for some Scouts who make it through their initial training in the 10th Company, certain Scouts picked out for specialized Stalker training and experience.

 

The Crimson Knights also have a close alliance with their local Forge World, Ragnarus Secundus. Their Techmarines are especially well-trained, and one can occasionally find a Techpriest or two traveling with a Crimson Knights army, helping to maintain their vehicles. On the topic of vehicles, the Crimson Knights are usually seen in infantry formations, using transports sparingly and almost never using Predators, bikes or Whirlwinds. However, being a Blood Angels Successor, they have an affinity for the various Astartes gunships and other aircraft available to them.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Crimson Knights shouldn't disdain ground vehicles' use. A tank will still move faster than a human (even a superhuman, like the Astartes), and it will still be stealthier than a gunship blazing across the sky; meaning it occupies an important middle ground between walking everywhere, and being a passenger on a flyer. If your Crimson Knights infantry need fire support, a nearby tank can provide it faster than a gunship at high altitude (a gunship at low altitude is just begging to be shot down).

 

Who are the "Crimson Stalkers" mentioned in the OP? An elite formation in the Chapter, comparable to Space Wolves Wolf Scouts? Or was it the Crimson Knights' original name, before you changed your mind?

[Doctor Perils]

Right, most of this looks fine imo. I don't believe the Death Company is generally described as an 11th company, as it is supposed to still be somewhat secret, but that is minor.

 

I don't get the Crimson Stalkers though? For one, why are they the 7th company? This is supposed to be a tactical reserve company in the Codex, whereas you say the Crimson Stalkers are fairly diversified?

I'd recommend against making them all deathwatch veterans, as each chapter has barely a handful that go to the alien hunters, and they are supposed to stay on the vigil for several years - this recruitment method is rather untenable for recruiting a full company's worth of marines... what I'd recommend is to make it a section of the 1st company: you'll find it much easier to justify such a kind of organisation (and for using the Deathwatch codex which is the reason for them I imagine?) Perhaps thirty to fifty such marines would be slightly more understandable?

 

_However_ I'd also recommend waiting for more information on the "Vanguard" Primaris which are being released with Shadowspear - this sounds like something that would fit the "Stalker" moniker rather well

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

To clarify, the "Crimson Stalkers" is what the 7th Company calls itself, and what it's called by other Companies. Consists of (1) Deathwatch veterans and (2) Scouts who opted to train with them. In crunch, they use Deathwatch rules.

 

I'm aware that (by the Codex) the 7th Company is a reserve company. In fact, that's why I picked it; I figured reserve companies are less important.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

For the Crimson Knights to have a company's worth of Marines using Deathwatch rules, they need a VERY CLOSE working relationship with the Ordo Xenos, which will automatically get them entangled in Inquisitorial politics and power struggles- in the worst way. I recall fluff in earlier codices of Ordo Xenos and Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors waging outright wars against each other, because one side sought to exploit xeno artifacts for humanity's gain, while the other sought to destroy the same artifacts. Is this really something your Chapter wants to get into?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

Hmm. You're not wrong. However, I would like to use Deathwatch rules for a decent portion of my list without actually playing Deathwatch as far as fluff goes. That's my primary concern.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

It's probably best to limit the Deathwatch rules users to a handfull Kill Teams within the Crimson Knights- say those who served in the Deathwatch are called upon to train their brothers on the optimal anti-xeno tactics after they return to the Chapter. (I used the same explanation when I wrote my own Codex supplements.) These specialists may number 100, but they'll help the Chapter best if they're divided into 10 squads, with each Company getting a squad to help them deal with unpleasant surprises.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

That's actually close to what I wanted to do anyway (while I didn't write it down, the Stalkers lend out squads to other Companies, hence why my Astartes list has a squad of them) so I suppose that could work. However, I see no reason why they can't be considered a single, solid sub-organization. As stated, the plan was essentially to have them (1) act as a second layer of training for the Crimson Knights (which means the Stalkers proper wouldn't have to number 100, as they would be supplemented by more-trained Scouts) and (2) act as exactly what they are, specialist anti-xenos troops.